Article: Lotería: Leslie De Leon Studio Visit (IG Live)
Lotería: Leslie De Leon Studio Visit (IG Live)
Virtual studio visit + interview with Texas painter Leslie De Leon, hosted by George Irwin of Western Gallery. We dig into the Lotería-inspired series, how Western art and borderland culture intersect, and Leslie’s process—from travel photos and journaling to sketches, color studies, and oil on canvas.
Shop Originals View the Exhibition Shop Prints
“Some of the first cowboys were Mexican—this culture has always been in Western art. Here, it’s just louder.” — Leslie De Leon
Show Notes
- What Lotería is: Often called Mexican bingo—randomized player boards (16 images), a caller flips cards (52 total). Leslie paints in 16-card “decks.”
- Why this series: Fusing Western subject matter (landscapes, animals, cowboys) with a distinctly Latino/Chicana visual language.
- Process: Lists → graphite sketches → acrylic color studies → oils; pushing color and impasto; tight planning but room for evolution.
- Place & reference: Own photos from South Texas and Colorado; 26 national parks visited; journaling to capture memories beyond the pictures.
- Studio tour: Pegboard paint wall, palette cart, framed pieces, thick brushwork closeups.
- Collecting: Originals; timed-edition prints during the exhibition window; a small number of hand-embellished prints; and an exhibition poster.
- Rapid-fire: Small brush • Night owl • Underpainting = yes • Current color crush: pink.
Timestamps
- 00:00 – Hello/tech hiccups; first-time IG Live
- 01:10 – What is Lotería? (rules, 52 cards, player boards)
- 03:05 – Western × Borderlands; 16-card “decks” toward 52
- 05:10 – Process: planning, sketches, acrylic studies, oils
- 07:20 – Audience Q: Life & places in the work; own references
- 10:00 – Journaling trips; 26 national parks; painting in a surprise snow
- 12:45 – Studio tour: brushwork, pegboard paints, framing
- 18:30 – Card highlights: Bandera, Mundo, Araña, Alacrán, Borracho, Palma, Pescado, Dama
- 24:00 – Editions: timed prints, hand-embellished prints, poster
- 26:30 – Rapid-fire Q&A
- 28:00 – Wrap + links
Links & Resources
-
Western Gallery — Exhibition / originals, timed-edition prints, poster.
-
Leslie De Leon — lesliedeleonart.com
-
Instagram — @westerngallery • @lesliedeleonart
Full Transcript (Edited for Readability)
George Irwin: I think I’m here.
Leslie De Leon: There you go.
George: Awesome. First time doing an Instagram Live—some technical difficulties. Sorry about that.
Leslie: Yeah—this is actually my first time, too.
George: Oh! Well, congratulations. You’re officially part of the Instagram Live club.
Leslie: Thank you, sir. Thank you!
George: You’ve got your Lotería pieces behind you. I see a mix—some framed, some not. Everything’s flipped on Live, so the words and numbers are backwards…
Leslie: I know—it’s just like that. We’ll roll with it.
George: Let’s jump in. For folks new to Lotería, would you explain what it is?
Leslie: Absolutely. Some people call it Mexican bingo. You have player boards with 16 images each. There are 52 cards total, and the boards are randomized. A caller flips a card—say, La Bandera. If you have La Bandera on your board, you mark it with a penny or a bean. Four in a row—horizontal, vertical, or diagonal—wins. That’s the game.
George: Very bingo‑like—and you painted 16 pieces, almost like a full player board for each “deck.”
Leslie: Exactly. The first time I did it, I designed it like a player deck. This is the second iteration—a new deck.
George: The 2023 series got my attention—and a lot of other people’s. It’s been fun to see this second iteration take shape.
Leslie: Same here. And maybe in two years I’ll do another. The spirit will stay, even if the look evolves.
George: You’ve still got plenty of cards—52 in all.
Leslie: Right—which is a big challenge. But taking them 16 at a time makes it doable. And sometimes I revisit a card with a new idea—so there may be repeats in future decks.
George: What inspired you to paint Lotería this way?
Leslie: I’ve been deep into Western art for years—and also borderlands / Latino culture. Lotería lets me fuse them. The subject matter is Western—landscapes, animals, cowboys—but the format is iconic Latino culture. Blending them felt right and tells the story clearly.
George: Western art is huge—stretching from Canada down into Mexico—but we often picture the Southwest (New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona). Texas and the borderlands are a big part of that history.
Leslie: Exactly. Latino culture has always been in Western art. Some of the first cowboys were Mexican. It’s just louder here in this series.
George: What’s your work style like? You’re very organized.
Leslie: I’m a planner. Lists, sketches, rough drafts. For this series I started by talking with you, then notebook ideas, then sketches—graphite drawings and acrylic color studies—before jumping to canvas. It’s fun, but time‑consuming, so maybe don’t do that part if you’re on a tight deadline. Once I finalize the studies, I move to oil on canvas.
George: The final paintings stayed remarkably close to the studies.
Leslie: That was the goal. The sketches are about getting the idea down—not about making mini‑masterpieces—so I don’t overspend time there.
Audience Q (Emily): What pieces or places from your life made it into the paintings? I see familiar landscapes.
Leslie: I travel a lot and shoot my own reference photos. Colorado (I lived there for a year), South Texas (where I’m from), and beyond. I’ve got thousands of images from hikes and road trips. I’ll combine four or five photos into one reference. I use people I know as models, too—even the deer in my backyard show up.
George: Working from your own references builds a distinct POV.
Leslie: Same. And I’ve started journaling trips—so I remember the stories, not just the pictures. Like the time I set up to paint in Colorado in June after Texas heat—and it started snowing on me. I packed fast.
George: Can we do a quick studio tour? Maybe zoom into brushwork/impasto?
Leslie: Let’s do it. [camera flips] “Hey MTV, welcome to my crib.” Here are the available paintings (eight left at the moment). Close up—see that thick brushwork and texture.
George: Love that one.
Leslie: This is La Palma—a local park in Laredo right on the Rio Grande. Those palms are everywhere in South Texas.
George: We timed this show for National Hispanic Heritage Month and realized it runs through Halloween, so we asked for something spooky.
Leslie: Meet La Araña (the spider). Creepy forest. I actually hate camping in forests—they feel haunted. I’d rather be in an open desert. This card mashes that feeling with the spider.
George: As a counterpoint, El Alacrán (scorpion) reads as a beautiful landscape—the scorpion’s natural camouflage with prickly pear softens the creepy factor.
Leslie: Totally—color and setting matter.
George: Tell me about El Borracho.
Leslie: The most requested card from the first series. Keeping it Western, I wanted a cowboy drinking—but I didn’t have reference photos, so my partner Danny posed. He’s a good sport.
George: Love it. Show us your setup—you’ve got a very organized wall of paints.
Leslie: Here’s my pegboard—easy to visualize colors and see what I need. I’m stocked on Gamblin, and this tube squeezer gets the last drop. On the cart: palette, lots of brushes that need cleaning (don’t judge), original card set for reference, and a phone stand for making content. In 2025 you’ve got to be artist + social media manager.
George: Before we wrap, can we peek at a few framed works?
Leslie: Here’s El Pescado (the fish)—wild texture and color—and how it transforms from sketch to painting when the light hits. Here’s La Bandera and La Dama as well.
George: Quick note on the release: We’re offering timed‑edition prints during the exhibition window so more folks can collect the work. If you want something special but not an original, there are a few hand‑embellished prints available per image. And there’s an open‑edition poster of all 16 paintings.
Leslie: Exactly.
George: Rapid‑fire before we go: Big brush or little brush?
Leslie: Little—for the details.
George: Morning or night?
Leslie: Night. I’m not a morning person.
George: Underpainting or no underpainting?
Leslie: Yes.
George: Color you’re overusing—in a good way?
Leslie: Pink—for warmth and life.
George: This was a blast. Thanks for the tour and for sharing the Lotería journey. Everyone: explore the show, originals, prints, and the exhibition poster at Western Gallery. Leslie, where can folks find you?
Leslie: lesliedeleonart.com
George: Perfect. Thanks again, Leslie—and thanks everyone for tuning in.
Leslie: Thanks, George. Had fun!
Credits: Host—George Irwin (Western Gallery). Guest—Leslie De Leon.
Browse the exhibition →
Shop timed-edition prints →
Get the exhibition poster →
